Have you used your calculator for something that was not really math related?

[Joe Horn]

The HP-97 on my desk is functional, but it primarily acts as charming desk jewelry.

[ijabbott]

(03-02-2019 05:40 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  Hello!

(03-02-2019 05:31 PM)ijabbott Wrote:  AFAIK, the compact cassette has a constant tape speed of 1+7/8 in/s (4.7625 cm/s) so the tape counter ought to be geared from that.

That would be true if the counter were driven off the capstan (the little rotating shaft that pulls the tape past the recording head). But then it would continue to count when one presses "Pause". So the counter was usually be driven by one of the tape reels. And as the tape unwinds from the reel, the radius the reel changes and the number of revolutions of the reel per minute of music varies. There may have been some sophisticated tape recorders with electronic counters that took care of that, but mine were simple mechanical ones.

Regards
Max

No doubt you're correct. I was just thinking about how it ought to work in my head. The counter could be disengaged from the capstan during "Pause". However, I completely neglected to consider "Fast Forward" and "Rewind" where the capstan rotational speed is irrelevant.

[Dieter]

(03-01-2019 03:30 PM)grsbanks Wrote:  I often use a DM41 in the kitchen as a timer:

http://techy.horwits.com/2018/12/egg-timer-in-41cx.html

A bit more sophisticated: In the 80s and 90s I used my 41C as a timer in the photo lab. :-)

Dieter

[Dieter]

(03-02-2019 09:19 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(03-02-2019 05:50 PM)Dieter Wrote:  A friend of mine owned an Onkyo TA-2055 (a 1982 model) where I always admired the real time counter.

Astounding! I had (actually still have) this exact tape drive, which I was never able to find another owner at the time

The TA-2055 seems to have been a quite common model in its time, at least in Germany after it had received a favorable review in a HiFi magazine. ;-) I bought my tape deck two years later, by then the 2055 had been replaced by the TA-2500. Which may have been a good choice as well, but finally I got an Akai GX-F51 (the little 2-head brother of the very popular GX-F71) which I was offered for a very good price. ;-)

(03-02-2019 09:19 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  It was a great deck for many years, but when I upgraded to a Nakamichi BX300, there was no looking back, and then acquired another BX300 for duping, etc.

Yes, that was really a nice one. Like most Nakamichis of the time.

By the way, re. counter <> timer conversions:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/software/67countr.htm

Dieter

[GVHOVE]

My HP-41CX is the controller for all equipment on my workbench ...
I have other gear to do math’s.


Regards,

GVHOVE

[grsbanks]

(03-03-2019 12:50 PM)Dieter Wrote:  A bit more sophisticated: In the 80s and 90s I used my 41C as a timer in the photo lab. :-)

Good idea with no blinkenlichten on it!

[Dieter]

(03-03-2019 06:25 PM)grsbanks Wrote:  

(03-03-2019 12:50 PM)Dieter Wrote:  A bit more sophisticated: In the 80s and 90s I used my 41C as a timer in the photo lab. :-)

Good idea with no blinkenlichten on it!

Even more important: it has a beeper. The timer produced an audible countdown during the final seconds of each processing step: five high tones and then a low one.

Dieter

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

(03-04-2019 11:16 AM)Dieter Wrote:  Even more important: it has a beeper. The timer produced an audible countdown during the final seconds of each processing step: five high tones and then a low one.

For my photo lab I used a talking clock (I think it was the first of it's kind, a Sharp CT-660 http://techtoywizard.blogspot.com/2013/0...-time.html). I had to spend all my earnings from a two-week student's job for it. It has some clever timer, countdown and stopwatch functions with spoken interval times and was simply perfect for the job. I still have it and it still works, same as my photo lab stuff.

Regards
Max

[EugeneNine]

(03-03-2019 01:29 PM)GVHOVE Wrote:  My HP-41CX is the controller for all equipment on my workbench ...
I have other gear to do math’s.


Regards,

GVHOVE

How does that control the equipment, rs232 or rs422 or something?

[Sylvain Cote]

(03-04-2019 02:03 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  

(03-03-2019 01:29 PM)GVHOVE Wrote:  My HP-41CX is the controller for all equipment on my workbench ...
I have other gear to do math’s.


Regards,

GVHOVE

How does that control the equipment, rs232 or rs422 or something?

From the picture I will assume HP-IL and HP-IB. [similar to my lab setup]

[wallyt]

Shortly before I retired I needed a remote control for a monitor at the office. I programmed my HP48GX to act as an IR remote, worked pretty well. Impressed my fellow workers!

[EugeneNine]

(03-04-2019 02:57 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  

(03-04-2019 02:03 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  How does that control the equipment, rs232 or rs422 or something?

From the picture I will assume HP-IL and HP-IB. [similar to my lab setup]

Is that similar to the old GPIB (I think that was the name), it looked like a narrow centronics connector.

[Thomas Okken]

(03-04-2019 03:53 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  

(03-04-2019 02:57 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  From the picture I will assume HP-IL and HP-IB. [similar to my lab setup]

Is that similar to the old GPIB (I think that was the name), it looked like a narrow centronics connector.

Yes, also known as IEEE-488.

[EugeneNine]

(03-04-2019 03:57 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  

(03-04-2019 03:53 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  Is that similar to the old GPIB (I think that was the name), it looked like a narrow centronics connector.

Yes, also known as IEEE-488.

Ahh yeah, I found it about the same time. Searching at work is tricky due to so many blocked sites but wikipedia worked. So the 41 has some kind of interface already? I don't know the older calcs very well but one of my projects in college was to make my 48 talk to test equipment. I started with building simple test equipment based on pic microcontrollers talking rs232 to my 48.

[Maximilian Hohmann]

(03-04-2019 04:02 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  So the 41 has some kind of interface already?

No, not directly. But there is a little box (HP82169A) which is an HP-IL to HP-IB converter. So for the HP-41 (or HP-71B) you need an HP-IL Interface and that box as well.

Regards
Max

[Geoff Quickfall]

I have two programs on my 41CL, 29GPS/Ir, 42s and others that I ate to work.

CODE:

Phone is obvious, sort of a PDA. On the 41Cl there is an extended memory data base which is searchable using a few letters of the name or branch. On the DM42 the labels are the names with data associated with the labels and the labels displayed in the soft keys.

On the 29GPS/Ir (Panamatik) the data is on a flip card.

CODE:

External ‘access door’ codes at various airports around the world which allow me to walk around the aircraft. This one is on the 41Cl and is coded and the file is hidden using synthetics.

You can see CODE and PHONE are shift key assigned to the - and + keys.

A picture of my CX. the 41CL has the same overlay and programs and is the go to calc along with the DM42. The 29CGPS/Ir was also excellent but the 787 is so well sealed from external EM that the 29 does not receive the GpS satellites as it did on the 777 and 767.



The 41CL:

[Sylvain Cote]

(03-04-2019 04:02 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  So the 41 has some kind of interface already?

(03-04-2019 04:44 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  No, not directly. But there is a little box (HP82169A) which is an HP-IL to HP-IB converter. So for the HP-41 (or HP-71B) you need an HP-IL Interface and that box as well.

You could look at the HP-IL Compendium to get an idea of what is HP-IL/HP-IB and what interfaces were/are available.
Also, there are lots of links in the PDF document that point to owners manuals and the like (also in PDF format).

[GVHOVE]

(03-04-2019 02:03 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  How does that control the equipment, rs232 or rs422 or something?

Here’s my setup:

On the HP82169A HP-IL/HP-IB interface:
- HP3488A Switch/Control Unit (with 2 x 44471A General Purpose Relay cards)
- HP6632A 100W DC Power Supply 0-20V

Directly via HP-IL (and the 3421 Control ROM in the HP-41CX):
- HP3468A DMM
- HP3421A Data Acquisition/Control Unit (with 44462A 10chan. MPX + 44465A 8bit I/O card) ... it handles commands via HP-IB also, btw

For the screen commands to the monitors I use the ‘82163 FUNCTIONS GROUP’ of the PANAME ROM.

Always think it’s amazing that my 35 year old ‘calculator’ still flawlessly handles programming and data readings from all these devices.


Regards,

GVHOVE

[EugeneNine]

Thats usually how it goes, every idea I come up with gets done by someone else first. I might have even seen GPIB in the past, I remember seeing the connectors, but just didn't remember what it was.
Basically I was working with electronics and my hp cals in the 90's then got married, got a job in IT and had kids and stored everything or sold off some stuff but am getting back into it now so some things I'm catching up on.

My original project was to have different kind of test equipment all controlled by my 48sx and it able to log data from the equipment.

[Garth Wilson]

(03-04-2019 04:44 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  

(03-04-2019 04:02 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  So the 41 has some kind of interface already?

No, not directly. But there is a little box (HP82169A) which is an HP-IL to HP-IB converter. So for the HP-41 (or HP-71B) you need an HP-IL Interface and that box as well.

The HP-lL module was, to me, at the top of the list of what made the 41 so valuable. HP-IL is kind of a serial implementation of HP-IB, or IEEE-488. Using the HP82169A HPIL-to-HPIB interface converter with manual addressing, lab equipment on the HP-IB side appeared like they were on the loop. This interface was the reason I got into the 41 in the mid-1980's—to control equipment on the workbench and take data from it. In my case, this included signal generators, relay boxes, DMMs, etc., in addition to the printer to print out test results and mass storage on HP-IL. I have part of a program I used at work near the top of the page at http://wilsonminesco.com/stacks/appenC.html . It shows how you address, control, and read various pieces of equipment. There might be some functions mixed in there from the Extended I/O module too. I have them merged so they only take one port, and I tend to forget which module each function is in.

I also have the HP82165A HPIL-to-parallel interface converter, and the FSI164A HPIL-to-RS232 which is like the HP82164A except this one came with two RS-232 channels standard and optionally up to eight, and optionally ran on an internal battery. Otherwise it's nearly identical. I also have the HP92198 80-column video interface. These all still work. The only HP equipment I have from decades ago that does not work is my Thinkjet printer. My HP-IL mini printer doesn't do real well but probably just needs a head cleaning. My microcassette tape drives work flawlessly except the NiCd batteries are no good, so I have to power the drives up from an external power supply. The tape drives are like disc drives, intelligent, with a FAT.